Adeoye "Ade" Olubunmi Mafe (born 12 November 1966) is a retired male

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sprinter who competed in the 200 metres and 400 metres. At the age of 17, he represented

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at the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

, reaching the 200 metres final. Also at 200 meters, he is a three-time World Indoor medallist and the 1989 European Indoor champion. After retiring from athletics, he went on to work as a fitness coach for several football clubs, including

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Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and Watford. On 8 Jan 2019 Ade appeared on The Chase.

Athletics career

Mafe was born in Isleworth,

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. At the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, he won the gold medal at the 1989 European Indoor Championships in 20.92; silver at the

1985 IAAF World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athlet ...

in 20.96 and a silver at the 1989 World Indoor Championships in 20.87. He represented

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and won a bronze medal in the 200 metres event, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in

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, in 20.26 (w). He reached the final of 200 metres at the

, where he finished eighth. Mafe is a member of the British team which set the world indoor record for the rarely contested 4 x 200 metres relay on 3 March 1991 in

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. Mafe and his teammates

Darren Braithwaite Darren Braithwaite (born 20 January 1969) is a retired British sprinter. Braithwaite was a member of the British team which set a world indoor record for the rarely contested 4×200 metres relay on 3 March 1991 in Glasgow. Braithwaite and his ...

Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...

and John Regis ran a time of 1:22.11, which has yet to be bettered. Mafe is also a member of the team which holds the British outdoor record for the 4 x 200 metres relay. Mafe and Marcus Adam, Linford Christie and John Regis set a time of 1:22.99 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

on 23 June 1989.

Football career

In 1996 Mafe was signed by Ruud Gullit and Chelsea Football Club to coach the players fitness and training, the Chelsea players fitness was improved under Mafe so much that they won the FA Cup and went on to achieve great things. In July 2008,

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chels ...

was appointed as the new manager of the Milton Keynes Dons after

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, st ...

left to become

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

boss, and Mafe was appointed fitness coach at MK Dons to work alongside Di Matteo and his assistant

Eddie Newton Edward John Ikem Newton (born 13 December 1971) is an English football manager and former professional Association football, footballer. As a player, he was a defensive midfielder from 1990 until 2001 notably for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea where ...

. Mafe followed Di Matteo to West Bromwich Albion in June 2009. On 6 February 2011, Mafe left West Bromwich Albion when

was relieved of his duties at the club. Mafe joined the coaching staff at

Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

in October 2012, linking up with

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...

whom he knew from his time at Chelsea. He left Watford in July 2013.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mafe, Ade 1966 births Living people 20th-century English people Athletes from London Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics English male sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Milton Keynes Dons F.C. non-playing staff West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff Watford F.C. non-playing staff World Athletics indoor record holders (relay) World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners